Anti-immigrant violent riots have engulfed the UK over the weekend, in the worst disorder that faced the government in more than a decade.
The riots have broken out late last month after an online anti-immigrant misinformation campaign over a stabbing attack that killed three children in northern England.
Violence Outbreak
On July 29, a stabbing attack occurred in Southport, a town north of Liverpool, during a Taylor Swift-themed dance event. The attack left three girls dead, injured eight other children and two adults, reported the Associated Press (AP).
Shortly after, rumors circulated on social media that the attacker was an asylum-seeker or Muslim immigrant. As a result, hundreds of people attacked a local mosque with rocks and bottles. The police suggested that the far-right group “English Defence League” supports those rioters.
In an attempt to quell protests, the police arrested the suspect and revealed his identity on August 1. The suspect, Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, was born in Wales in 2006, and moved to the Southport region in 2013. His parents were from Rwanda. Rudakubana has faced 3 counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.
Riots Spread Across Britain
After far-right activists seized the incident and circulated a wave of misinformation and false claims about it, riots spread across the UK to towns and cities including London, Hartlepool, Manchester, Middlesborough, Hull, Liverpool, Bristol, Belfast, Nottingham and Leeds.
Rioters stormed into hotels housing asylum-seekers. Sunday witnessed the worst violence when a group of 700 rioters broke into a Holiday Inn Express that houses asylum-seekers in Rotherham, outside of Birmingham. Rioters clashed with the police, throwing bricks and chairs at officers. They also smashed windows and throw in a burning bin.
Hours later, a similar incident occurred in Tamworth when rioters targeted a hotel housing asylum-seekers with petrol bombs and fireworks. Dozens of police officers have entered hospitals for injuries inflicted by rioters’ violence.
Anti-immigrant Sentiments
In recent years, anti-immigrant rhetoric has been widespread across Britain. The growing number of immigrants who illegally entered the country by crossing the English Channel in small boats has caused rising tensions.
This issue was decisive in last month’s election. The former Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, enacted a controversial plan to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda to quell voters’ anger. However, the current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, cancelled the plan and promised to cut immigration by working with other European countries.
Moreover, the cost of housing asylum-seekers in hotels, which costed 2.5bn pounds ($3.2bn) last year, sparked voters’ anger amid the cost-of-living crisis and the failing public services.
Stephanie Alice Baker, a sociologist at City University of London who studies crowd behavior and the far right, said: “These are tensions that you see in a lot of countries right now. I would include the US to some extent in that, where you have emerging feelings of nationalism, a sense that people are being left behind, a sense that people’s freedoms are being denied, that the sovereignty of the nation is at stake. And a lot of this really coincides with a rise of immigration and a cost-of-living crisis.”
Restoring Order
The newly-elected Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, convened his first emergency meeting (COBRA) in order to discuss response to disorder. “Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest. It is pure violence and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” he said.
Starmer added: “The full force of the law will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part in these activities.” The Prime Minister refused to deploy the army, insisting that the police can tackle the disorder.
According to the National Police Chiefs’ Council, over 375 people have been arrested in the ongoing unrest and more are expected. Many of them appeared before court on Monday but will stay in jail for several weeks waiting for their next court hearing.
Blaming Social Media Companies
In a meeting with ministers and law enforcement officials, Starmer blamed social media companies for not taking adequate measures to prevent the spread of misinformation that sparked far-right violence. According to Starmer’s spokesperson, some of the misleading information came from foreign states.
“The disinformation that we’ve seen online attracts amplification from known bot activity, which, as I say, can be linked to state-backed activity,” the spokesperson said in a read-out of the meeting.
Furthermore, the British Prime Minister’s office criticized Elon Musk, the owner of X platform, for responding to a post displaying footage of the violence and blaming the riots on “mass migration and open borders” by writing: “civil war is inevitable.”
The spokesperson said: “There’s no justification for comments like that. We’re talking about a minority of thugs who don’t speak for Britain.”
Travel Warnings
Several countries have issued warnings to their citizens living in or travelling to Britain. Nigeria, Kenya, Malaysia and Indonesia have issued travel advisories warning their citizens to be on high alert and exercise a high degree of caution amid the ongoing tensions.
Additionally, Australia and the United Arab Emirates have joined the list of countries warning their citizens that travel to the UK may carry a safety risk, according to Euronews.
